


Incentive Not to Lose

by theRadioStarr



Series: Tumblr Drabbles and One-Shots [26]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/F, F/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Other, Polyamory, Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2015-12-07
Packaged: 2018-05-05 10:00:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5371148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theRadioStarr/pseuds/theRadioStarr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>@head-bitch-inquisitor (HeadLadyInquisitor) wrote me a smutty little drabble between her Ariya and my Lupa called 'Setting a Record', which you can read here: http://head-bitch-inquisitor.tumblr.com/post/130958207815/setting-a-record-nsfw</p><p>I wrote this piece in response, but it's actually a prequel, explaining how the 'running competition' comes to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Incentive Not to Lose

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HeadLadyInquisitor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeadLadyInquisitor/gifts).



Ariya drained the last of her mead from her tankard, setting the mug back down on the table with a quiet  _thunk_. They had returned to Skyhold this morning, after almost a month away; Lupa had immediately been pulled into a War Council, and she had a huge stack of missives waiting for her.

She loved taking her work into the tavern. Lupa’s father would keep her fed and hydrated, and she could listen while she worked. The soldiers were more free with their words here than they were anywhere else.

She had expected that Cullen and Lupa would have joined her by now, but she wasn’t surprised. They had, after all, not seen each other in a month.

Mahanon made his way over slowly, a fresh mug in one hand and a cheese and fruit platter in the other. He slid into the seat across from her, pushing the mug towards her and snapping a grape off its vine.

“They still aren’t here,” he told her, stating the obvious.

“I imagine they got a little carried away,” Ariya shook her head sadly.

“And they didn’t even invite you to join them.”

Ariya laughed. “No, but it’s okay. I’ve had Lupa all to myself for the last month or so. Let them get their  _hello’s_  and  _I missed you’s_  out of their system. There will be other times.”

“Well, I hope they don’t leave you waiting too much longer, anyway.” Lupa’s father stole another grape before sliding off the bench again, pressing a fatherly kiss to the top of Ariya’s head as he took her empty mug away.

Thankfully, she didn’t; Cullen walked through the door about ten minutes later. He was in far less formal dress, and his hair wasn’t quite so carefully groomed.

“There you are. I’m guessing Lupa’s on her way.”

“She sent me ahead,” Cullen nodded. “I was going to wait for her but she was worried about keeping you waiting any longer.”

Ariya nodded, watching Cullen slide into the seat Lupa’s father had been occupying minutes before. It was good to see him again, but the atmosphere was currently tense.

“So?” Cullen finally asked.

Ariya didn’t need to clarify what he was talking about. They had somehow come to a running competition: Cullen had bet Ariya that he was better at pleasuring Lupa than she was, and Ariya had reminded him that she was a professional. It had devolved into ‘who can make her orgasm the most times in one session by the end of the year’.

Ariya was worried about pushing Lupa too far, and so had been careful up til now.

“Three,” she told him, straightfaced.

He smirked at her, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table. “Four.”

If he was trying to intimidate her, it wasn’t working. “You know, I was thinking while we were away: a competition is only a competition if there’s incentive to win.”

Cullen leaned back again. “I don’t know, I think experiencing her coming undone is the best reward we could ask for.”

Ariya frowned and nodded slowly. “I can agree with you on that,” she told him. “Let me rephrase then: there needs to be an incentive not to lose.”

Cullen sat up a little straighter. “What do you have in mind?”

“Perhaps a word with Maryden,” Ariya suggested. “Whoever loses has to perform one of her sets on the busiest night of the week.”

The colour drained from Cullen’s face momentarily, his eyes going wide in horror, but then he set his jaw and leaned forward once more, holding out his hand across the table.

Ariya took it, and they shook, the gesture strangely formal. “Deal,” Cullen said. When Ariya tried to take her hand back, he twisted his wrist, faster than she could escape, so he could grab hers.

He leaned further forward and pressed a kiss into her open palm. Ariya relaxed, smiling as she leaned back in her seat. “I’m sorry we didn’t call you up,” he told her, his voice soft and low. “We, um… got a little carried away.”

Ariya laughed. “I imagine so. It’s okay, Cullen. I’ve had her all to myself for the last month. And you can make it up to me another time.”

“I plan on it,” he promised her.

Their discussion was cut short by Lupa finally throwing the front door of the tavern open. She was dressed very simply, and was still combing through her loose hair with her fingers when she slid into the seat next to Ariya.

“There you are,” Aryia commented, before Cullen could say anything, “and walking, too. Here I thought you wouldn’t be able to by the time he was done with you.”

Lupa snorted, and Cullen flushed red. “Just because she can walk doesn’t mean it wasn’t good,” he argued, but he looked at Lupa as if he needed her to tell him he was right.

“Trust me, Cullen, if I wasn’t enjoying myself, you’d know.” She reached out and snapped a grape off the vine, the movement exactly the same as her father’s, and plopped it into her mouth.

Maryden started to pluck at her lute, and Ariya smirked at Cullen.

 

> _Enchanters, the time has come to be alive_
> 
> _In the Circles of Magi_
> 
> _Where we will thrive with our brothers_
> 
> _Enchanters remind that time will not unwind_
> 
> _The dragon’s crooked spine will never straighten into line_

“What a lovely song,” Ariya commented, her voice intentionally flat. “I bet you could sing this one well, Cullen.”

“Funny, I was just thinking the same thing about you.”

They glared at each other across the table.

“What are you two talking about?” Lupa asked after a strained half a minute of silence.

“Nothing,” Cullen and Ariya assured her in unison as they continued to stare each other down.

Neither of them saw Lupa shake her head in bewilderment.


End file.
